In recent years, the sport of roller skating and, in particular, in-line roller skating, has enjoyed a tremendous growth in popularity. Generally described, conventional in-line roller skates include an upper boot secured to or integrally formed with a rigid or semirigid base. The base, in turn, is secured along its length, including at heel and toe ends, to a rigid frame. A plurality of wheels is journaled transversely along a longitudinal axis between the sidewalls of the frame.
One segment of the population that has enjoyed the sport of roller skating is children. The costs associated with the sport can be limiting for parents. With the new developments in features and the advancements in materials, high quality in-line skates can be expensive. This expense is compounded when buying in-line skates for children because as children grow, their foot sizes expand, necessitating frequent replacement of the in-line skates.
To address this problem, several skates have been proposed that are size adjustable to accommodate the feet of growing users. One such skate is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,526. The in-line skate includes a skate boot secured to a frame and contains a liner. The frame carries a plurality of wheels. The skate boot includes a heel portion, a cuff, a tongue, and a toe portion. The toe portion is selectively connected to the frame via a bolt, which is received by a nut. The bottom wall of the toe portion includes an elongate slot extending in the longitudinal dimension of the skate through which the bolt passes. When assembled with the heel portion, the toe portion may move along a line of travel that is generally parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the skate, by loosening the nut. This configuration requires a tool, inserted upwardly between the wheels, to adjust the size of the skate, which is inconvenient. Repeated adjustment may lead to stripping of the nut, thus limiting the skate's ability to adjust. During adjustment, the bolt and/or nut may be lost.